A leaked video of a private conversation between Srinivasan, the managing director of Coimbatore’s renowned restaurant Annapoorna and Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman has caused a stir in Tamil Nadu politics.
In the video, leaked by a Tamil Nadu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) worker, which has been doing rounds on social media, Srinivasan is seen apologising to Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
The Tamil Nadu BJP has been facing ire from the opposition over the video recorded and leaked by Tamil Nadu BJP convenor Balaji MS, with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi terming it “outright disrespect” towards the businessman.
Srinivasan’s apology came after he expressed his concerns over the Goods and Service Tax (GST) and requested a simplified version, during a consultation meeting between the finance minister and several industrialists in Coimbatore.
Srinivasan remarks that the varying GST rates for different food items make it challenging to explain the pricing to agitated customers, garnered widespread attention online.
Using examples to illustrate his point, Srinivasan humorously explained, “There is no GST for bread and bun but when you apply jam and butter on it, the GST is 18%. Customers are confused and ask us to just get the bun, they will get the butter and jam from their homes.”
“A family comes and orders a variety of food ranging from sweet to namkeen. People say that the FM has put 5% GST on sweet and 12% on namkeen because people eat a lot of sweets in the North. In Tamil Nadu, sweets, namkeen and coffee go together. Please charge uniform GST for these. The computer itself is getting stuck because of this GST confusion,” he said amongst laughter from the audience as well as the finance minister.
However, a video has surfaced showing Annapoorna chairman, Srinivasan allegedly apologizing to finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman following his remarks about the complexities of GST.
“Please forgive me. I do not belong to any political party. I only addressed my concern,” he is heard saying to Sitharaman.
Tamil Nadu BJP leader apologises
With increasing criticism, BJP Tamil Nadu president K Annamalai was forced to issue an apology on behalf of his party member who filmed the private conversation between the managing director of Annapoorna and Sitharaman. He further stated that Srinivasan was an esteemed member of the state’s business community.
In an X post he said, “On behalf of @BJP4TamilNadu, I sincerely apologise for the actions of our functionaries who shared a private conversation between a respected business owner and our Hon. FM. I spoke with Thiru Srinivasan Avl, the esteemed owner of the Annapoorna chain of Restaurants, to express regret for this unintended breach of privacy. Annapoorna Srinivasan Anna is a pillar of Tamil Nadu’s business community, contributing significantly to the state’s and nation’s economic growth. I request everyone to lay the matter to rest with due respect.”
Netizens react
The video has drawn sharp criticism from netizens who termed Sitharaman as ‘arrogant’ and ‘fascist’.
Rahul Gandhi, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and senior Congress leader, condemned the incident as an outright disrespect. He criticised the Union government, attributing significant challenges faced by small-time business owners to decisions like demonetization.
“When the owner of a small business, like Annapoorna restaurant in Coimbatore, asks our public servants for a simplified GST regime, his request is met with arrogance and outright disrespect. Yet, when a billionaire friend seeks to bend the rules, change the laws, or acquire national assets, Modi Ji rolls out the red carpet. Our small business owners have already endured the blows of demonetisation, an inaccessible banking system, tax extortion and a disastrous GST. The last thing they deserve is further humiliation,” said Rahul in a post on X.
He further slammed the Union minister over her “fragile ego” and for humiliating the businessman. Backing Srinivasan’s remarks and MSMEs, he said, “If this arrogant government would listen to the people they would understand that a simplified GST with a single tax rate would solve the problems of lakhs of businesses.”
Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate called the entire episode as ‘height of arrogance’
Congress Kerala X handle called out Sitharaman for being intolerable to criticism. “Master ji is intolerant to criticism and his minions are also acting like him, becoming extremely intolerant to criticism,” the X post read.
Another X user said, “He spoke about the issues faced by the restaurant industry and it is genuine case. Hereafter, even if you spoke about genuine issues, You will come under crime in this country. Unfit to be a minister. #NirmalaSitharaman.”
Another X user said, “Arrogance Srinivasan, owner of Sree Annapoorna brand from Coimbatore, requested for a Simplified GST on Food items Nirmala Sitharaman acted like she took that light-heartedly, But later She made him to apologize to satisfy her EGO.”
“That video of Annapoorna owner being made to apologise Nirmala Sitharaman in coimbatore and them releasing the video officially is so so wrong at many levels . TN has already rejected BJP and this is just gonna make it more worse for them. Her arrogance knows no bounds !!”, X user said.
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